Victor Wembanyama is probably the most hyped NBA prospect since LeBron James in 2003. The 19-year-old phenom from France has already been labeled as the next transformational player for the league — not to put too much pressure on him or anything.
Tuesday night, we’ll find out where Wembanyama begins his NBA career. The Draft Lottery airs at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. Then, we’ll find out which teams gets the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft.
Wembanyama is the guaranteed No. 1 selection in this year’s draft. He’s the player with the highest ceiling since James two decades ago. And that begs the question: if you had to build around one player, would it be Wembanyama or an 18-year-old James?
“I have thought about, you put Victor now and an 18-year-old LeBron James now and put them side by side and say who do you take between the two? It would be a really hard choice,” Jay Bilas said on ESPN, per Forbes.com.
“But I tend to think that in today’s game you might take, you might favor Victor a little bit.”
Wembanyama stands 7-foot-2 and is capable of doing anything on the court. His professional experience dates back to 2019, so while the NBA will still be a leap in talent for the youngster, he’s prepared for the challenge.
Odds for each NBA team to win the Victor Wembanyama Sweepstakes
On Tuesday night, 14 NBA teams will be crossing their fingers and toes in hopes that the ping pong balls bounce the right way, giving them the No. 1 pick and winning the Victor Wembanyama Sweepstakes.
All 14 teams that missed out on the playoffs gets a chance to win the No. 1 pick. But not all odds are created equal. Here’s a breakdown of the percentages for each team in regards to landing the top overall selection this year:
- Detroit Pistons: 14%
- Houston Rockets: 14%
- San Antonio Spurs: 14%
- Charlotte Hornets: 12.5%
- Portland Trailblazers: 10.5%
- Orlando Magic: 9%
- Indiana Pacers: 6.8%
- Washington Wizards: 6.7%
- Utah Jazz: 4.5%
- Dallas Mavericks: 3%
- Chicago Bulls: 1.8%
- Oklahoma City Thunder: 1.7%
- Toronto Raptors: 1%
- New Orleans Pelicans: 0.5%
The NBA Draft Lottery starts before Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. The Los Angeles Lakers play the Denver Nuggets at 8:30 p.m. ET. The game airs on ESPN and ESPN+.
Wednesday night, the Eastern Conference Finals begins between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics. TNT provides coverage of that series, with Game 1 tipping off at 8:30 p.m. ET.
